State of West Virginia Archives: on Technology

Alex Mooney:
End federal obsession with big city public transportation

Stable and safe infrastructure is vital to West Virginia's economic growth. Therefore, building and maintaining roads will be one of my top priorities.

I will work to ensure that West Virginia receives its fair share of federal gas tax revenues. We need to end the federal government's obsession with funding big city public transportation schemes that soar over budget and deliver fewer riders.
This will create a fairer distribution of money to each state and allow West Virginians to set our own priorities.

I would also support efforts to sell federal BLM lands to help fund the Highway Trust Fund, to help maintain our crucial roads and bridges.

Alex Mooney:
End overreach of NSA's surveillance program

and recent revelations about the program's many abuses. I will fight to make sure our government does not overstep its constitutional bounds in the process of fighting terrorism and protecting our country.

We also need to find innovative and creative ways to enhance our infrastructure. And while we have a Blue Ribbon Commission examining our road system, one thing I know we must do now is explore and foster public private partnerships to develop our roads.

In 2008, the Public-Private Partnership Act was passed and signed into law. The Act allowed the West Virginia Division of Highways to partner with a private company on the design and construction of otherwise public transportation facilities.
This current structure, however, has limited usefulness.

Tonight, I'm proposing legislation to make the Act permanent and streamline the approval requirements to allow the
Commissioner of Highways the flexibility to enter into these public-private partnerships. This will allow us to take greater advantage of this innovative tool for the construction of infrastructure.

Source: 2013 State of the State Address to W.V. Legislature
Feb 13, 2013

Natalie Tennant:
Expand R&D, broadband, tourism, & energy sectors

We will tear down the rules of the old economy and build the strongest, smartest infrastructure possible for the new economy of West Virginia. We don't have to do things the same old way. West Virginians deserve better.

We will get our people back
to work in jobs with dignity and a good wage.

We will be aggressive in moving our economy forward by investing in biosciences, research and development, innovation for long-term technological advancement.

We will expand Internet broadband access to all corners of West Virginia, using the federal stimulus funds that have already been allocated for this effort.

We will continue our commitment to an energy-based economy and our coal and natural
gas industries.

We will reignite our tourism efforts through new branding of West Virginia. We can bring more vacationers to West Virginia and create jobs.

Joe Manchin III:
States depend on federal government for key infrastructure

Millionaire Republican industrialist John Raese complained that federal earmarks create career politicians in a bloated government and indicated he'd be reluctant to pursue public dollars for projects best left to the private sector. "I don't think it's
the best answer for the problems of West Virginia," he said. "I want to bring back the spirit of capitalism--to create the freedom of an individual." Raese argues state economies would be better served by cutting taxes and easing regulations on
business.

But Manchin said states depend on the federal government for key infrastructure like roads, water and sewage lines, and broadband Internet access. Without government, he said, poor, rural states would suffer. "The free enterprise system is
not going to go there. They're only going to go where the market is," Manchin said. "And for all of us to have an opportunity there has to be a partnership. The federal government and state government should be your partner, not your provider."